Final Round of the Proposed Development to impact Serenade and Downtown Woodstock is Monday March 25th at 7pm. Chambers at City Center, 8534 Main Street, Woodstock. The Proposed Development was tabled in January due to your amazing show of opposition to this project at Planning Commission and was voted down at the March 7th Planning Commission meeting! Having said that it still has a chance to be passed by the City Council next Monday. This is the biggest development to impact our neighborhood since the founding of our great neighborhood almost 20 years ago. We won’t be successful again unless Serenade residents show up. This development will impact not only the homeowners you see from the photo, but will of course affect traffic. They are proposing 100 units while the City of Woodstock continues to allow run away development without addressing traffic concerns. I am not personally trying to stop the development, but rather plead to the City and Planning Commission that this current plan should be revised. The Developer held 2 meetings with residents in February and it looked like they weren’t going to make any changes until the final hour before the last Planning Commission meeting. They did make some concessions thankfully for Serenade. Here are a few of those concessions:
1. They will replace all adjacent homeowners 6ft fences with 8ft fences to provide an extra layer of security when construction begins.2. No balconies will be built on the back of Condo Buildings facing Serenade and Single Family. Detached units will not have a balcony higher than the 2nd floor for extra privacy.3. Buffer Zone has been increased 5ft around the entire project to 15-20ft.4. Will work with homeowners adjacent to the Detention Pond to see about getting an easement to pipe the water underground into the existing storm water system.5. Sewer Access will not be run under Serenade rather connected to Downtown.

Many homeowners adjacent to the proposed development are happy with these changes. Having said that I know many homeowners still have concerns surrounding 2 main issues. Increase in traffic and lack of commercial in this property. This project was struck down in a 6 to 1 vote at Planning Commission. If you want to have the City Council deny this project in its current form, you must show up at the City Council Meeting prepared to speak out. As I said in the beginning I am not trying to stop this development. I understand property owners have rights and am glad Serenade has gotten a few concessions, but if you still have concerns about this project, you must show up!

PLEASE, PLEASE Serenade Residents let your voices be heard!It is important we all have a cohesive message. I understand other homeowners might have other concerns as well. Let them be heard. I will be having a 30 minute pre-meeting at my house at 6pm before the City Council Meeting to answer anyone’s questions and make sure we have a cohesive message. 390 Windsong Way.

Thank you all for being Serenade Residents and living in Woodstock. I love it here and have been a Serenade resident for 12 years now. I do have major concerns though with all of the high density Woodstock is allowing to be built with not enough infrastructure improvements to handle the extra traffic and density.

I hope to see all of you March 25th! We need to have 15-20+ homeowners prepared to speak. Please confirm your attendance!

If your trash was not picked up this week, you will need to call Waste Management to report a missed pick up. Waste Management’s system reports that the trash was picked up and so everyone who was missed will need to call individually. The number is 404-794-6707.

Join us for refreshments at the cabana, train rides, an egg hunt, and a visit with some furry friends. All neighbors are welcome. If you don’t have young children, please come socialize and enjoy the refreshments!

We are also in need of older children or adult volunteers to arrive 10 minutes before the event (at 9:50am) to help hide eggs and monitor the activities during the event.

Please consider donating empty easter eggs or individually wrapped treats that will be used to stuff eggs. We can only accept candy that is in unopened bags. Donations may be dropped off on the porch at 361 Windsong Way. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Pope & Land Development Update! The Planning Commission meeting was a very late one last night lasting till 11pm and I want to thank the few Serenade Residents who showed up. For anyone that has been against this project from day one, you got good news last night with the fact that Planning Commission denied this project in a 6-1 vote mainly due to the fact that it has a very low commercial aspect. The Planning Commission was happy to see the developer made concessions for Serenade, but the Planning Commission in January asked them to increase commercial especially since this piece of property is one of the last long main street frontage left. The city has approved high density residential over and over in recent years, but they are wanting to see more mix of commercial. This case is not over though. The Case still goes to City Council on March 25th and could be approved by City Councial even though Planning Commission denied the application. We will be allowed to speak in Public Comment at the March 25th meeting. If you are against this development and increased traffic, you can not stop showing up at these events. I am thankful for the few Serenade Residents who did show up last night as the Planning Commission did let us speak. I will create a new Event Invite ad keep everyone posted about the next meeting. Feel free to email serenade.hoa.president@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Thank you to all who attended (or sent proxy’s) for Tuesday’s meeting. Pope and Land answered questions on the proposed development, DPM covered the 2018 financials, and the Board covered the accomplishments for 2018 and goals for 2019, and the election of new Board members. Board members elected for 2019-2020 are Christian Wulfers, President; Rob Lockhart, Vice President; Don Villnow, Treasurer; Paula Willis, Secretary; Bob Elliot, Assistant Secretary. Look for a summary of the meeting in the upcoming newsletter.

Serenade Residents: Thank you to everyone who came out out to the HOA Annual Meeting last night. We briefly heard Pope and Land at the HOA Meeting, but tonight they are just going to be presenting to Serenade Residents and will have more time for questions. I am begging as many residents to please show up. The developer has basically decided to not consider one of our concerns!!! It is important we voice our concerns at this meeting so they can’t go in front of Planning Commission meeting on March 7th and say that none of us showed up with worries. The arrogance of this Developer is astonishing that they want to ram this project through the Planning Commission and City Council without making any adjustments based on neighborhood feedback. Please Please show up tonight if you can!!

Tonight is the annual HOA meeting at the Chambers at City Center. Check in begins at 6:45 and the meeting begins at 7:00. The developers, Pope & Land, will be there tonight for a short presentation on their development plans. We look forward to seeing you tonight with an update on 2018 accomplishments and goals for 2019. If you are unable to make tonight’s meeting, you can send a signed proxy with any board member or email a copy to jsvensson@dpm-re.com.